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The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » You searched for proposals » Page 15

Search Results for: proposals

Unnecessary Work

By Dan Balowon November 21, 2017
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Continuing with my series of “unnecessary” blog posts (last week Unnecessary Words), today we cover unnecessary work, which I define as making something more difficult than it needs to be.

So you understand my worldview, I always take the escalator, elevator or moving sidewalk, I know all the shortcuts on my computer keyboard and I love microwaves.

Why make something harder than it needs to be?

Here are a few areas where authors might create more work for themselves than necessary:

Platform Development

Some aspiring authors attend writers’ workshops about development of author platforms hoping for the announcement, “There is no need for platforms. Just write books!”  When they hear the steps to developing a platform, they are momentarily discouraged, but still believe the industry will someday abandon this apparently ridiculous requirement.

It’s never going to happen, so move on.

Developing an author platform is much more about consistent and intentional work than rocket science knowledge and herculean effort.

There are many things in life which could be made much easier if you simply worked on them for 15 minutes a day rather than spending hours and hours dreading the task before you, and compressing a month’s work into one mind-numbing marathon.  The quarter hour spent doing the task each day, frees one to do something else and accomplishes a task in less time overall.

Think of how much work can be avoided if you simply did a little each day and skipped the time spent dreading and procrastinating, which is no fun at all.

Networking and Professional Growth

This might be construed as part of platform building, but I am defining this as a slightly different process involving connections with professional people who can help you progress in your literary career.

How can you work unnecessarily at this? Actually it’s pretty simple to identify.

You will spend a lot of wasted hours if the only person you think of is you. Others see through this behavior rather easily.

Frustrated looking for mentors, reviewers and endorsers? Become a mentor, reviewer and endorser.

Anyone who successfully networks with people for any purpose does so for mutual benefit, not a one-sided benefit.

When you focus on serving or helping others rather than yourself, you will be amazed how quickly others will want to connect with you. The time and effort of making connections is dramatically reduced.

The more you work to get others to network with you, the more difficult it becomes. The more you think how you can bring value to others, the less time it takes.

Finding an Agent or Publisher

I know what you are thinking, “This will be interesting how he handles this one. Agents and publishers intentionally make things difficult for authors!”

An author makes more work for themselves when they believe all agents and publishers are alike. Rather than spending six hours investigating and researching, and three hours targeting the right agents and publishers for their purposes, aspiring authors spend dozens of hours blanketing the countryside with proposals to people who have no stated desire for their type of work, creating many more hours of angry reflection and loathing toward agents and publishers.

Doing a little research and firing fewer but more targeted arrows will save a lot of time, work and unnecessary anxiety.

There are many more areas where authors work unnecessarily, from not intentionally planning their time at conferences, to using out-of-date technology.

This isn’t about becoming overly obsessive about how you use your time, but spending time on something unnecessarily burns hours from your life you will never get back.

 

Category: Agents, Get Published, The Writing LifeTag: Networking, Platform, The Writing Life, Work

Rumor Control

By Steve Laubeon October 30, 2017
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I was talking with an editor this week who asked me, "How are things going? I hear that your agency is barely making ends meet and that you've had to take on other type of work to survive."

I must admit that I was so startled by this rumor that words nearly failed me.

"Where did you hear that?" I exclaimed.

"Oh it was at a recent writers conference and folks were talking, and your name …

Read moreRumor Control
Category: Agency, Communication, SteveTag: Gossip, rumors

Variety is the Spice in an Agent’s Inbox

By Steve Laubeon October 23, 2017
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The other day a writer asked me, “Describe a typical work day for you.” I choked back a laugh and said, “There is no such thing as ‘typical’ in the day of a literary agent.” There are many things that repeat. Royalty statements, new deal negotiations, contract evaluations, reviewing client proposals, and the unsolicited inquiries. But within those is a constant variety. I wrote down a sample of …

Read moreVariety is the Spice in an Agent’s Inbox
Category: Agency, Agents, Book Business, The Publishing LifeTag: Agency, Agents

Author Nuances

By Dan Balowon October 3, 2017
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Writer and humorist Dave Barry wrote, “The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion or ethnic background, is that we all believe we are above-average drivers.” The same applies to artists and writers. Most feel they are pretty good at their craft. But success as an author is a complicated mix of factors. If accuracy, neatness and timeliness were the secret to …

Read moreAuthor Nuances
Category: Craft, Creativity, The Publishing Life, The Writing LifeTag: Art, Nuances, The Writing Life, Writing Craft

Thank You, Writers!

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon September 28, 2017
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In light of meeting with so many fabulous writers at the recent ACFW conference, I feel led to give special thanks not only to my clients but to every writer endeavoring to make a difference in Christian publishing. Thank you for: giving agents, editors, and publishers, books that allow us to have the best jobs in the world. writing complete novels on spec. creating your best proposals. listening …

Read moreThank You, Writers!
Category: Awards, Personal

You Gotta Know the Territory

By Bob Hostetleron September 27, 2017
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So you’re writing a book. In what genre? Don’t know? You must. My colleague, Dan Balow, recently wrote a valuable blog post (here) that touched on the many genre categories and sub-categories in today’s publishing world. You should read it—when you finish reading this, of course. “I don’t care about genre,” you may say. “I’m a writer, not an editor or publisher.” To which I say, “Tough.” If you’re …

Read moreYou Gotta Know the Territory
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Career, Genre

Four Ways to Rise to the Top!

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon September 7, 2017
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Since agents receive more proposals than they have time to represent, a huge obstacle for new authors is getting their manuscripts to the top of the stack. Every week I review excellent proposals from writers I would be proud to represent. If only I could double my hours in a day! This happy dilemma speaks to how much the Christian market has matured. We attract the best and brightest writers. I …

Read moreFour Ways to Rise to the Top!
Category: Book Proposals, Get PublishedTag: book proposal, Get Published

Send Simultaneous Submissions or Not?

By Steve Laubeon August 7, 2017
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Bryan Mitchell asked, “What is the max number of submissions you should send at a given time? I’ve heard ten but that sounds off; to me, it seems it should be less than that if you are carefully considering the agents you reach out to.” When approaching agents I encourage simultaneous submissions, as long as you let us know you are doing so. But, as Bryan answered his own question, there is no …

Read moreSend Simultaneous Submissions or Not?
Category: Agency, Agents, Book ProposalsTag: Agency, Agents, book proposals, Queries, Simultaneous Submissions

Should You Hire a Freelance Editor?

By Steve Laubeon July 31, 2017
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Katie Dale asked, “I am wondering at what stage should I have my memoir edited? After I have an agent? After I have a publisher? Before? Should I consider ever getting professionally edited before I get an agent or publisher? What’s the process?” This is a question being asked more frequently. Dare I answer with “It depends”? I have a client who has utilized a freelance …

Read moreShould You Hire a Freelance Editor?
Category: EditingTag: Editing, Writing Craft

What Happens in the Agency After I Send my Proposal?

By Steve Laubeon July 24, 2017
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Jeanine asked, “Please help me to get a picture of what happens to a manuscript that has been submitted (via email) to your office, from the time of its arrival to the time of the agent’s acceptance/rejection.” Thank you for the question Jeanine. I will first give a silly but kinda true answer of what happens in the agency as follows: We avoid looking in the incoming proposals inbox …

Read moreWhat Happens in the Agency After I Send my Proposal?
Category: Agency, Book ProposalsTag: Agency, book proposals
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